Oak Tree Meeting at Santa Anita : Mi Preferido Not Fenced Out in Winning Yankee Valor Handicap

The last time Mi Preferido ran at Santa Anita, Winning Colors beat him soundly. Last April in the Santa Anita Derby, Mi Preferido, one of California’s most promising 3-year-olds, was outrun early and lost by almost 9 lengths to Winning Colors, the filly who went on to win the Kentucky Derby.

Third in that race, Mi Preferido was sent to Oaklawn Park for the Arkansas Derby and he ran poorly there as well, finishing fifth and losing by 8 lengths.

Mi Preferido was trying to tell Laz Barrera something, and after the Arkansas race, the trainer finally listened. Barrera, winner of the Kentucky Derby with Bold Forbes in 1976 and winner of the Derby and the Triple Crown with Affirmed in 1978, reluctantly withdrew Mi Preferido from this year’s Derby because of a deep muscle pull that first flared up in the Santa Anita Derby.

Mi Preferido’s return to the races this summer came in three sprints, with an extreme in post positions that compromised his chances every time. In two 6 1/2-furlong races at Del Mar in August, he started next to the rail and finished second. Then going 6 furlongs at Bay Meadows a month ago, he broke from the outside in a nine-horse field and was carried to the outer fence. An eighth-place finish resulted.

So, on Saturday Mi Preferido returned to Santa Anita, where there was no Winning Colors, no sore muscle and another outside post position, but of little import because the $149,100 Yankee Valor Handicap was 1 1/16 miles. Mi Preferido used his speed to take the lead leaving the gate, then he finished strongly for a 2 1/2-length victory over Conquering Hero before 28,889 fans.

The stake was a three-horse race heading for home, with Mi Preferido on the fence, Mark Chip in the middle and Conquering Hero on the outside. Mark Chip weakened and wound up fourth, with Conquering Hero edging Redoble II by a half-length for second. The 2-1 favorite, Speeding Light, was in contention for a half-mile, but finished last in the seven-horse field, eased through the stretch by his jockey, Fernando Toro.

The victory was the 5th in 11 starts for Mi Preferido, who won the Hollywood Juvenile as a 2-year-old and the San Vicente and the San Felipe Handicap at Santa Anita early this year. Saturday’s purse of $90,600 increased Mi Preferido’s total to $434,000 for his owners, Barrera and Amin Saiden, the Venezuelan real-estate man who has been a longtime friend and client of the trainer’s.

Mi Preferido’s time was 1:41 4/5 and he paid $6.60, $4 and $3.40 as the second betting choice. Conquering Hero, who has finished second three straight times, paid $4.20 and $3.20 and Redoble II paid $5.40.

Gary Stevens and Chris McCarron, who had ridden Mi Preferido in most of his recent races, were both out of town. They flew to New York but did not ride when Winning Colors, who would have been ridden by Stevens, and Alysheba, McCarron’s mount, were scratched from stakes at Belmont Park because of rainy weather.

Eddie Delahoussaye rode Mi Preferido for the first time. “He had a lot left, but I’m glad he was clear, because he was coming out through the stretch,” Delahoussaye said. “I was worried about him trying to get out from the quarter pole to the wire.”

Barrera has plans for Mi Preferido to run in the Goodwood Handicap at Santa Anita on Oct. 22 and the Affirmed Handicap at Hollywood Park at the end of the year. Barrera won the first running of the Affirmed with It’s the One in 1981. It’s almost impossible for a trainer to win a second Triple Crown, but at least he can keep winning the race named after his horse who did.

Horse Racing Notes

The Saturday scratches of Winning Colors in the Rare Perfume and Alysheba in the Jockey Club Gold Cup should cheer Keeneland’s management, because both horses are scheduled to run there before competing in the Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs on Nov. 5. Winning Colors will run next Saturday in the Spinster, which should also draw Goodbye Halo and a few other top fillies and mares. Alysheba is expected to run in the Fayette Handicap at Keeneland on Oct. 22. Good Command, sixth in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic and being aimed for the same race this fall, was a possibility for the Fayette, but now he may run in the Goodwood at Santa Anita. Ferdinand, a nose better than Alysheba in the 1987 Classic, is due to run in the Goodwood and worked a good mile in 1:38 2/5 Saturday morning.

Eddie Delahoussaye will ride Goodbye Halo in the Spinster, replacing Jorge Velasquez. . . . Mill Native, winner of the Arlington Million, will run in the Breeders’ Cup Mile instead of the Turf Stakes, which is a half-mile longer. . . . Fifteen minutes after Santa Anita’s last race Saturday, Love the Groom, one of the eight entrants in today’s Oak Tree Invitational, was introduced to the grass course. The 4-year-old colt didn’t clear quarantine until late Saturday afternoon. Love the Groom is owned by Veronica Gaucci del Bono, who won the Arc de Triomphe last Sunday with Tony Bin.

Pat Valenzuela has won seven races in the first four days of the Oak Tree meet. . . . Apprentice James Corral suffered minor eye and foot injuries when his mount, Sleigh of Gold, tried to jump the temporary rail and dumped him shortly after the start of Saturday’s sixth race. . . . Sunshine Forever, favored to win today’s $600,000 Turf Classic at Belmont Park, is scheduled to run in the Breeders’ Cup Turf and may also go in the Japan Cup, three weeks later. Sunshine Forever may eventually stand at stud in Japan. . . . Laffit Pincay will ride River Memories in the Turf Classic. . . . Do So, a stakes-winning 3-year-old filly, has been retired after suffering a tendon injury in a workout.